Lanikai urging police to cite illegal parkers

Question: I received a parking ticket on Mokumanu Drive in Lanikai on a recent Saturday, in the same place I have parked on weekends for some 25 years -- the grassy left side of the road, about 10 feet diagonally from the stop sign at Mokulua Drive. I have never received a parking ticket before for parking anywhere on Mokumanu Drive. There is no "no parking" sign there. How/where do I research legal parking options in Lanikai?

Answer: You can find general parking rules and regulations in Chapter 15 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, the Traffic Code, at www.honolulu.gov.

Officers are regularly citing illegally parked vehicles at the request of the Kailua Neighborhood Board, the Lanikai Community Association, City Council members and state legislators, said Honolulu Police Department spokesman Capt. Frank Fujii.

The problem is that there are no curbs and gutters along the streets to define where to park and where not to park in Lanikai, said Charles Prentiss, vice chairman of the Kailua Neighborhood Board.

Instead, what you have are "unimproved sidewalks," such as the grassy area along Mokumanu Street that you parked on.

For more than a year, Lanikai residents have been complaining about parking problems, he said.

The biggest complaint was about the large tour limousines and vans parking partially onto the road or in front of driveways, "so we asked police to do something about it," Prentiss said.

"The information we got from the Police Department was that there needs to be a 3-foot path between the pavement and the car," he said. "In most cases that wasn't happening."

Once police become involved, they do not distinguish between a rental or tour vehicle and a resident's vehicle, Prentiss noted.

Fujii said officers may use discretion in issuing citations, especially in neighborhoods where there is limited on-street parking.

That is probably why you have never been ticketed in the past.

But officers also have to "balance things," he said, especially if the parking creates a dangerous situation.

In this case, because the community asked police to look out for any illegal activity, "people have to realize that we are going to go out and enforce the laws impartially."

Meanwhile, Fujii said, "The bottom line is that (you) can always contest the ticket."

Q: Concerning the murder of Masumi Watanabe, it has always puzzled me: Who was she living with in Pupukea, and why did she have to go on a walk? To where?

A: The Star-Bulletin and other news media have reported that Watanabe was living with a relative's family in Pupukea.

The day she disappeared a year ago, she was dropped off near the bottom of Pupukea Road for her regular walk home.